


I love you in like five different languages

by maybewhenthetimecomes



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Rated T for swearing, but theyre all in college so its just tutoring, father figure celestino ftw, first fic, kind of a student-teacher au???, why do all these college students have pets, yuri is viktors cousin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-01 08:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11482575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybewhenthetimecomes/pseuds/maybewhenthetimecomes
Summary: Yuuri loses a bet from Phichit, and now he has to get lessons in Russian. Luckily, he finds a very good teacher.Viktor is just glad to be of help.





	1. Chapter 1

“Seung-Gil is retweeting way too many pictures of dogs again.” Phichit held up his phone so Yuuri could see his Twitter feed. “You see that? That’s 5 pictures in under an hour, he’s at it again.”

Yuuri snorted. “And they’re all huskies again, too. That guy has a problem. Does he realize he already has three dogs?” Yuuri set down his mug of tea to grab his own phone. He quickly pulled up Seung-Gil’s Instagram account, swiping through the pictures. “Look, he adopted his last dog not even half a year ago. She’s so cute, though.”

Phichit looked over his shoulder to view the picture and sighed deeply. “Adorable as fuck. But, Seung-Gil definitely has a puppy fever.” 

Yuuri laughed at that. “I bet he’ll adopt a new dog even faster than Leo can ask Guang-Hong out.”

Phichit sat back up with a surprised look on his face. “Leo is asking Guang-Hong out? How did I miss that?”

“He told me so at that party last week. But he hasn’t done anything yet, so I’m waiting to see if he’ll follow through,” Yuuri said, picking his mug back up. Phichit made an endeared face. “Forget the dogs, that’s the cutest thing I’ve heard this week. Those two are made for each other,” he said.

Suddenly, he perked up. “So, wanna bet? If Leo asks Guang-Hong out before Seung-Gil adopts another dog, I’ll do the dishes for the entire week!”

“It’s always a competition with you, isn’t it?” Yuuri gave his friend an endeared look. Phichit was extremely competitive, and the bets they had between them were always highly entertaining.“Well, do you accept or not? Or,” Phichit pointed his finger again, “are you scared you’ll lose?”

That got him. “Alright, alright, I’m in. And if Seung-Gil gets a dog before they get together? What then?”

“Ooh, I have to think about that.” While Phichit furrowed his brows in concentration, Yuuri pocketed his phone. He stood up and went to the kitchen to put his empty mug in the sink and turned around when he heard Phichit make a decisive sound from the couch.

“Got it. You know how Ciao Ciao recommended that tutoring company to teach us Italian?” Phichit asked, coming into the kitchen.

Yuuri blanched at that. “No way I’m learning Italian when you just have to do the dishes! That is so unfair,” he complained. Phichit sniggered. “I thought you would say that. So we’ll even it out. If I lose, I get a crash course in Italian, if you lose you have to learn…” Phichit scrolled through the options quickly and perked up when he spotted a good one.

“Russian! You have to learn Russian.”

Yuuri sighed, resigned himself to his fate, and stuck out his hand towards his friend. “Deal.”

~

It was early in the morning, and Yuuri was gliding along the ice slowly, lazily skating figure-eights. His thoughts had been all over the place lately and he was glad for some alone time. The Grand-Prix assignments would be in soon, and since he was the only one of Celestino’s students who had qualified everyone was rooting for him. On one hand he was grateful for their support, but the high expectations were a little hard for him to bear sometimes.

So to be completely alone right now, with only his thoughts and the icy rink to keep him company, was very soothing. This was probably the most relaxed he’d been all week. Even though he was freezing from the cold air and lack of moving around.

To battle the cold, Yuuri switched to his regular warm-ups. He had already stretched before he went on the ice, so he decided to start warming up his ankles, knees and back. He did some simple cross roles, weaving around on the ice slowly.

Suddenly, he heard a bang and a crash somewhere behind him. It was only his years of experience on the ice that saved him from falling, but he still barely managed to keep himself upright. He turned around, wondering who on earth would be at the rink so early.

“Yuuri! You need to check your phone! Or at least turn your notifications on sometime!”

Right, who else could it be. Yuuri skated towards Phichit, who was already standing at the side of the rink. “I texted you like, a bazillion times!” “I didn’t really want to be bothered, sorry,” he said while he stepped off the ice.

“I know, I know, but Yuuri, you really need to see this.” Phichit seemed really excited about something. “You lost the bet, Yuuri! Look wat Guang-Hong posted!”

“Wait, what?” Yuuri took a curious glance at Phichit’s phone. Sure enough, Guang-Hong had posted a picture of Leo, seated opposite of him in what seemed to be a café. “ _It’s a date!!_ _( ˘_ _⌣_ _˘)_ _♡_ _(˘_ _⌣_ _˘ )_ ” the caption read. Yuuri looked back at Phichit. “I thought Guang-Hong had quit social media,” he muttered, feeling a little disappointed. Couldn’t Guang-Hong have waited one more day to post the picture?

“That doesn’t matter!” Phichit was pretty much just jumping up and down, now. “You really just lost a bet from me! Do you know how excited I am?”

Yuuri laughed despite himself. “I can tell, yeah,” he admitted.

He had to say, he was pretty surprised he’d actually lost. Usually, Yuuri was on the winning end of his bets with Phichit. Mostly because nine out of ten times, he and Phichit were pretty wasted whenever they placed bets. A drunken Phichit wasn’t exactly the most responsible decisionmaker, and how else would a guy end up with three hamsters color coded after medals?

“So, I guess I’m learning Russian now?” Yuuri asked. Phichit looked at him, not at all hiding his glee. “Yup! Although I did already look at the Italian tutors the site had to offer, and I found this really hot guy, so…” Yuuri groaned. “Phichit, I swear to god-‘ “You’re not changing my mind, I already booked a lesson with him. I have a Skype date with him on Saturday.” His friend winked.

Yuuri sat down on a bench to unlace his skates and looked up at his rinkmate. “You are way too invested in this,” he laughed. “You’re the one who won the bet, so why would you still take lessons?”

“I told you, he’s hot! I can impress Celestino with my newfound skills in Italian, plus I might get a cute guy out of it. It’s a win-win situation,” Phichit said, looking very impressed with himself. “Hey, why are you taking your skates off? If you’re not gonna do anything, you could help me with my quad toe if you want. Lord knows I can use all the help I can get.”

“Oh, I just figured I could go look up a tutor for myself, as well. But I can put my skates back on and help you until Celestino gets here,” Yuuri said.

He didn’t really want to help, since quads weren’t exactly his forte. But he figured giving some pointers could really help his friend out, and finding a tutor could wait a little longer.

“That would be so great, Yuuri! You’re the best!” Phichit was already on the ground, warming up his muscles. “We’ll find you a good teacher, and then we’ll be teaching each other raunchy pick-up lines in no time,” joked Phichit, knowing full well Yuuri could never be so bold to ask a tutor to teach him pick-up lines.

“Very funny. Now what if I told you doing quads requires doing 20 suicides beforehand? You’d better start doing them now, we don’t want you pulling a muscle while jumping,” Yuuri joked back.

Phichit stopped his warm-ups, whining loudly. “Noooo…” He looked up at Yuuri, eyes pleading. “I’ll do anything but that, please!”

“Kidding, kidding. Put on your skates so we can get started!”

Together, they stepped on the ice, bet already forgotten in favor of starting their training for the day.

~

 

Later that day, Yuuri and Phichit were slumped on the couch, muscles aching from that day’s practice. Phichit had put a movie on that neither was paying attention to, in favor of scouring for a tutor for Yuuri.

“How about this one?” Phichit showed Yuuri his laptop. ’30 years old, native Russian, degree from University of Delaware…” Yuuri looked further down the page, noting the special requirements the woman had put on her profile. “Sound good, but she doesn’t do Skype lessons. So she’ll probably want to be compensated for traveling, and I don’t want this to get too expensive.”

Phichit nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll keep looking,” he muttered. Yuuri could see his friend was getting a little bored with searching, which he couldn’t really blame him for. It was a Friday night, after all. He decided to change the topic a little, while still keeping his eyes open for potential teachers.

“How about Italian Guy, huh? He speak any other languages?” Phichit immediately perked up at that, Yuuri noted with some satisfaction.

“He’s actually French,” Phichit said with a smirk. “But apparently he’s fluent enough to teach me some Italian, as well!”

“Can I see his picture?” Yuuri asked his friend. Moments later, Phichit’s phone was shoved in his face. “You see that? He’s gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful.” Yuuri squinted at the bright screen. Phichit always had his brightness all the way up, which wasn’t always gentle on the eyes.                                       

Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he took in the man on the screen. “Damn, okay,” he mumbled.

Italian Guy had fierce green eyes and a handsome face, and from what Yuuri could tell from the small photo, a decent fashion sense. Only his hair seemed a little weird, but he chalked that up to personal preference. Not like his own haircut was so amazing, Yuuri supposed. He looked up at Phichit, matching the smirk his friend was sending him.

“Lucky you,” he told him. Phichit pointed finger guns at him. “Lucky me. His name is Chris, by the way, so you can stop calling him Italian Guy,” he laughed.

They decided to resume searching for a little while, showing each other profiles until their eyes started drooping shut. Phichit was looking truly worn out now, so Yuuri told him thank you but to please go to bed now. He had a few tabs open with the tutors that he liked the most, so he closed them all but one by random. He clicked the last one and sent the guy a message.

He included his name, age and phone number along with the request to set up a few tutoring lessons.

Finally, he was done. He snapped his laptop shut, turned off the movie and took one last glance at his Instagram feed.

Seung-Gil had finally adopted that dog, it seemed.

~

There was a feint ringing in his ears, and his bed was shaking. Briefly, Yuuri wondered if he was hungover, but the pounding headache he normally experienced was absent when he raised his head from the pillow. Still half asleep, he tried to locate the source of the ringing noise.

With a jolt, he realized the noise was coming from his phone, Phichit was kicking his bed to make him pick it up, and _shit someone was calling him-_

“Sorry, sorry, I must’ve forgotten to turn the sound off, shit-‘ Yuuri searched wildly for his phone, but without his glasses on he couldn’t see a thing.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Phichit groaned into his pillow. Yuuri flushed, and apologized again. Finally, he found the cursed thing, and he accepted the call without even looking at the caller ID. “Hi, this is Katsuki Yuuri,” he said a little breathlessly. “Ask them why the fuck they’re calling us at-‘ Phichit checked his watch, “ffffucking six-thirty am?” He rolled back into the pillows, leaving a little hole so he could glare at Yuuri.

But any complaint towards the early hour fell flat when Yuuri heard the person on the other line respond with the most sexy accent he had ever heard.

“ _Hi Yuuri_ (oh god the way he said his name was just-), _this is Viktor. You sent me a message about Russian lessons, are you free this Monday evening? I thought we could start right away, if that’s fine with you.”_

“Uhhh…” Wow, very articulate, Yuuri! He couldn’t help it, Yuuri was completely taken by surprise. He had kind of failed to keep listening after the man said his name, but suddenly he knew the other guy’s name again. He was just about to respond, when Viktor spoke again. _“Yuuri, are you there? I’m sorry, I know it’s early.”_

God, this guy was going to put Yuuri into cardiac arrest by just talking. “Y-Yeah, I’m here, sorry! I uh, wasn’t really awake yet…” At that, Phichit gave him a look that just screamed _Yuuri, you’re a mess_.

He heard Viktor laugh, so before he could do or say any more embarrassing things Yuuri told the other man that yes, Monday was fine, and how did 7 pm sound?

 _“Seven sounds great, shall I send you my Skype info right away?”_ “Yeah, sounds great…” Yuuri responded.

 _“Very well, Yuuri! We’ll discuss payment then. Don’t worry, the first lesson is free.”_ “Uhh…”

Ah, there we go again with the eloquent responses, so wonderful! “See you Monday. Bye!” Yuuri quickly hung up.

It was quiet in the room for a bit, and then-

“Yuuri, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so mortified. And that’s saying something, since I’ve seen you throwing up on that TA’s lap. You okay there?”

Yuuri just flopped face-first back into the pillows. Phichit just looked at him. “That bad?”

Yuuri’s response was smothered by the pillow.

“I have no idea what you’re saying. Why don’t you start by telling me who dared to disturb me at six-thirty in the morning?”

Yuuri felt his face flush. He was actually quite surprised it hadn’t happened earlier, but maybe he had just been too shocked for his body to catch up with what happened.

“I found a tutor last night, and he called me to set up a first lesson,” he mumbled, turning his head slightly toward his friend to make himself audible.

“That’s great! So then why do you look like you just did something majorly embarrassing?” When he got no response from Yuuri, Phichit started sitting up, seemingly resigning himself to the fact he wouldn’t sleep anymore this morning. He slipped into a pair of sweats and padded towards the mirror to check his eyebrows. “C’mon, Yuuri, you can tell me!”

Yuuri relented. “Phichit, he’s got the most sexy accent I’ve ever heard in my life,” he lamented. “How am I supposed to survive even a single lesson with a guy who sounds like that?” He rolled onto is back with his hands covering his eyes, and sighed deeply. “I’m gonna die.”

Phichit had started laughing about halfway through his friend’s first sentence, a small snorting sound that soon became an intense giggle. Phichit was a giggler, which Yuuri often found cute. Except when that giggle was made at his expense, of course. He glared at Phichit, which only made him laugh harder. Phichit abandoned the mirror in favor of dropping down on Yuuri’s bed, tackling him into a hug.

“I’m sorry for laughing Yuuri, but this is just so typical of you, I can’t help it!”

Yuuri waited for his friend’s laughter to die out, before untangling himself from the hug to put on his glasses. “This is going to be a disaster,” he dead-panned. “A catastrophe. A complete debacle.”

“Aww, Yuuri!”

~

Viktor’s first mistake had been to agree to stay at the office a little later than normal, filling in for a colleague who had gone home sick. His second mistake was to eat said colleague’s leftovers, which was a strawberry pie that promptly made him break out in hives. As he scrambled towards the toilet to flush his mouth with water, he knocked over the huge pile of finished files that he had spent half an hour sorting out. He groaned in exasperation, with huge red patches already forming on his cheeks.

When was he finished scrubbing out his mouth, he went back into his office and sank onto his knees to collect his fallen files. It was the only thing stopping him from scratching his itchy, swollen cheeks. He assembled the pieces of paper into a messy pile and stood up to put them back where they belonged.

He put his hands on his hips and stretched out to pop his back. That’s when the third mistake of the evening walked in. Viktor sighed internally and put on the politest smile he could manage, while smoothly stepping in front of his desk to conceal the messy papers. “Good evening, JJ,” he said, his voice a little raspy from his allergic reaction earlier.

“No need to be blushing, Nikiforov,” his boss told him jovially, slapping him on the back.

“I- that’s not-‘ Viktor frowned, but he was interrupted by JJ, who was standing wide-legged in front of him now.

“That assistant on floor 5, you know her?” Viktor’s eyes widened. “You mean Mila?”

JJ smiled broadly, baring his teeth. Viktor hated the guy so, so much. _Fuck him and his gigantic teeth._ “Exactly! She’s in labor and we need you to drive her to the hospital. I would do it myself, but…” JJ waved his hand about vaguely. The _I’m the boss so I can tell you to do whatever you want_ was left unspoken. Viktor sighed internally once more. “I’ll get going, then.”

~

Viktor’s fourth and fifth mistakes were to stay at the hospital until Mila’s wife arrived, and accepting a salve from a bypassing nurse. The wife was stuck in traffic, and the salve on his cheeks stank like hell. He silently cursed the sick colleague who had indirectly started this whole fiasco.

“Excuse me, are you miss Babicheva’s husband?” he heard from somewhere behind him. He turned around to the nurse.

“No, I’m her colleague. Her _wife_ is on her way,” he said, pettily enjoying the embarrassed flush on the nurse’s face. Mila was his friend, and he knew how much she enjoyed telling people about her wife and gauging their reactions. In fact, he got to see it happen almost every lunch break.

The nurse was obviously eager to get away from the rude silver haired man with the stinky cream on his face, and said, “Right! Well, the mother and baby are doing great. So if you want to visit her, you’re welcome to. Miss Babicheva asked for you, actually. Room 163.” With that, the nurse high-tailed it out of the hospital waiting room.

He found Mila’s room, and peeked through the window. She immediately spotted him and gave him a little wave. His bad mood washed away immediately when he saw the little bundle in her arms. Mila was positively glowing, and seeing his friend so happy made the horrible night a little better. He sat down next to the bed. Before he could ask her how she felt or what the sex of the baby was, she was already thanking him profusely for bringing her to the hospital.

“I mean it, Viktor,” she said, “Sara and I could never have afforded an ambulance. You’re the best.” She was still smiling, but the tears in her eyes made Viktor panic instantly. _Oh god, please don’t start crying, I can’t handle that…_

But Mila’s cheeks were already stained with tears, and Viktor found himself wrapped into a hug, with Mila careful not to squash the tiny baby between them. _Fuck_. He did not know what to do with his hands, so he decided to pat her awkwardly on the back, very gingerly. Mila sat back, her eyes already drooping shut. “I’ll call the nurse,” Viktor decided.

When the baby was put to bed by the nurse, Viktor slumped into one of the chairs in the corner of Mila’s room. He was utterly exhausted. Somewhere, he realized that falling asleep in a hospital chair was probably his sixth mistake, but he was far too eager to sleep.

 

He woke up when Mila’s wife Sara hurried into the room, and Viktor gave them a few minutes to sit and talk before bidding them goodbye.

He pulled his phone out of his suit jacket, noting the low battery level. If he was quick, he would probably make it home before the battery died. He walked into the hospital parking lot and clicked the button on his keys to unlock his car. As he rolled out of the underground parking lot, his phone pinged. Not wanting to deal with any possible messages from work, Viktor tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and peeled onto the highway to finally go home.

~

The sun was already starting to rise by the time he arrived at his apartment. He unlocked the door and was immediately greeted by a bark and a shout from the living room. ´Vitya, is that you?”

Viktor peeked into the living room, and saw his cousin sitting on the old leather couch with Makkachin in his lap, playing a video game and surrounded by snacks. “Hi Yura, yes, it’s me!” he greeted Yuri. “You should be in bed,” he said with a sterner tone.

“I was worried about you. You didn’t come home last night, so Beka came over and kept me company. He’s sleeping in my room right now.” Yuri’s tone was accusing, which Viktor couldn’t blame him for. He would’ve been worried sick, as well. Yuri had probably been pretty distressed, although his cousin would never admit that to Viktor.

“Ah, that explains why the living room looks like there’s been a frat party!” Viktor laughed. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you. Mila gave birth last night,” he said with an apologetic look on his face.

Yuri raised his eyebrows at that. At least he looked a little less pissed with him right now, Viktor thought. He was surprised when Yuri gave him a little smile. “Alright, you’re forgiven,” he said with a dismissing wave of his hand. Shouting and gunshots filled the room as Yuri turned his video game back on.

Viktor grinned, and walked into his bedroom to attach his phone to a charger. “Also, there’s something really gross on your face,” Yuri shouted over the noise. Viktor raised his hand to his cheek, and scowled when he saw the foul-smelling cream come off on his fingers. “I accidentally ate strawberries at work, and I got a rash. They gave me something for it at the hospital, but it really stinks.” A mischievous idea crossed his mind. Quickly but silently he made his way back to the living room, where Yuri was still sitting on the couch.

“Why are you telling me that? Not like I care-‘ Yuri shrieked as Viktor put his dirty hands on his face and down the back of his shirt. “Oh my _god_ that fucking reeks! Get off me, you gross old man!” Yuri scrambled to turn around, almost knocking Makkachin off the couch. He grabbed the front of Viktor’s shirt, snagged a handful of stale chips from the bowl next to him and dumped it all into the neckline.

Now it was Viktor’s turn to shriek as the teen chased him through the house, armed with M&M’s and Doritos. He almost bumped into Yuri’s friend in the hallway, who had probably been woken up by the commotion.

Viktor dashed into his bedroom, locking the door behind him. Yuri was pounding on the door, shouting menacing promises from the hallway. He could hear Otabek’s smiling voice as well as the two teenagers moved down the hallway.

Viktor stretched out on the bed, the early morning light pleasantly shining onto his face. He hadn’t had the best night of his life exactly, but all in all it had not been bad either. He stood up again and shimmied out of his pants and suit jacket, draping them over the open closet door.

Suddenly, he remembered the messages on his phone. One was from Sara, a thank you combined with an invitation to come over soon. The other was an email from the tutoring website he’d signed up for on a whim. He had an invitation from a guy named Yuuri, to set up a couple of lessons.

Excitedly, he dialed the number attached. The phone rang for quite some time. Viktor was about to hang up when a breathless voice answered the call.

 _“Hi, this is Katsuki Yuuri,”_ the person on the other line said. Viktor responded enthusiastically.

“Hi Yuuri, this is Viktor. You sent me a message about Russian lessons, are you free this Monday evening? I thought we could start right away, if that’s fine with you.”

Silence. Viktor blinked, and quickly took the phone away from his ear to check the time. Shit, it was still pretty early. Chances were, Viktor had just called the poor guy awake. “Yuuri, are you there? I’m sorry, I know it’s early.”

 _“Y-Yeah, I’m here, sorry! I uh, wasn’t really awake yet.”_ Viktor made a face at his own stupidity. He laughed a little, hoping to salvage the situation.

 _“Uhm, Monday evening is okay. How does 7 pm sound?”_ “Seven sounds great, shall I send you my Skype info right away?” _“Yeah, sounds great…”_ Yuuri sounded marginally more awake now, Viktor hoped he would be able to go back to sleep after the interruption.

“Very well, Yuuri! We’ll discuss payment then. Don’t worry, the first lesson is free.” He hoped the joking tone in his voice carried through; he was just teaching for fun. His fees were a little lower than most of the other tutors because of it. He was startled out of his thoughts by a quick, _“See you Monday! Bye!”_

“Goodbye, Yuuri. I’m looking forward to it!” he said, but when he lowered the phone he saw that Yuuri had already hung up. He hoped he wasn’t coming on too strong; he’d been told many times he could come off as a little eager occasionally. In his mind, he was already putting together fun exercises for them to try. He was very keyed up for a few minutes, but then the adrenaline left his body, and he realized how exhausted he was. 

Jesus, he was tired. His seventh mistake had definitely been the playfight with Yuri, he realized, because when he laid down he felt the chips cracking between his shirt and the mattress. He dragged himself into the bathroom to wash off, shaking the crumbs from his hair and shirt. With some disgust, he plucked an M&M out of his underwear.

“Yuri, when I wake up the living room better be clean,” he shouted in the general direction of the living room. “Don’t wake up, then,” was the response of his cousin.

Finally, he stepped into bed, wrapping himself into the soft blue duvet. _This is the most comfortable I’ve been in my life_ , he thought, and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first ever fanfic, also the first time I’ve ever written such a long piece of fiction. I like that I don’t have to do a lot of characterization and just focus on the plot and dialogue instead, but some things are also so hard!  
> I sometimes felt like I was relying too much on one part of a character and it would make them fake and grotesque or just plain boring. Mostly, I feel like I have to give every character from the series a part to play, and I want to write them into the story, I do! I just really don’t know how, I’m scared I won’t do them justice or that I’ll misinterpret their personality.  
> So if you have any tips for me at all, please share them (without being mean of course, I can’t handle that I think). Concrit is very very welcome. Please keep in mind though that I’m not a native English speaker; I love the English language but since I’m Dutch there’s always a chance I’ll butcher things.  
> I loved writing this and I want to continue working on it, so please share your thoughts!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phichit has a sort-of date, Yuuri has a small breakdown, and Viktor needs to learn how to plan things. It's a regular day, all-in-all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is so short! i thought i would be in the mood for a little more writing the past few days, but i just got the most horrible cold ever. my head is pounding as i write this, there is snot and slime everywhere and i've just been the most unmotivated piece of garbage ever.  
> see this as a promise for things to speed up soon!! i hope you enjoy it.
> 
> EDIT 12/10/17: hey!! if you're reading this, it means you probably read the updated version of this fic. i wrote this at the end of the summer and while rereading it i realized the timeline didn't really work for me. so i switched some of the scenes and made chapter two a little longer. that means chapter 3 became so much shorter that deleted it to be rewritten. i'm hoping to get into the writing mood again, after christmas! thank you for reading and leaving comments and kudos!

By the time Saturday rolled around, Phichit and Yuuri had caught up on some sleep and were getting ready for Phichit´s so-called Skype date with his Italian tutor. Currently, they were sitting in their living room slash kitchen, surrounded by all kinds of clothes.

“I’m just saying, Phichit, a T-Shirt is fine to wear. And why do you even have that?!”

Yuuri stared at the glittery sequin top that Phichit was holding up. It was a bright yellow, and way too wild for an Italian lesson via Skype call, in Yuuri’s opinion. Sadly, Phichit did not seem to share his friend’s beliefs.

“Don’t you think it shows off my personality?” Phichit twirled toward the mirror in the hallway with the yellow monstrosity held against his chest, and stuck out his hips in a pose.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Yuuri sighed in defeat. When Phichit got like this, there was no deterring him. The best Yuuri could do was adjust the straps for his friend and make sure he actually called Chris on time. He got up, assembled the rejected clothes into a pile and gave his friend a pat on the back. “You’ll be fine, even though you look like an overexcited bumblebee.”

Phichit looked at him over his shoulder. “Wow, way to crush my confidence, you asshole.”

He didn’t seem too bothered though, as he leaned forward to run his fingers through his hair and checked his brows. Unlike Yuuri, Phichit did not have confidence issues.

When the dial on Phichit’s watch turned to 5 minutes before three, they both made their way over to the living room.

Yuuri had promised to stay close, ‘in case he’s a catfish!’ so while Phichit set up the Skype call Yuuri settled into the old living room couch. He put in his earbuds, keeping the volume low in case Phichit had something to tell him.

He selected the music that Celestino had picked out for him for his free skate. Although he liked the soft piano in the piece, he was still a little disappointed in his coach. It was extremely traditional and well-known. After years of skating to whatever music his coach recommended to him, he longed to be a little more surprising. Yuuri just didn’t think he would ever improve much if he kept skating to such safe music.

A loud laugh startled him out of his thoughts. Taking out one earphone, he looked at Phichit. His friend didn’t even notice him, too busy making flirty jokes with the person on the screen. As far as Yuuri could see, it was the same guy from the pictures, which meant Yuuri could relax on the couch for a little longer.

Popping the earbud back in, Yuuri noted the change in song. It was a song from a Studio Ghibli movie that Yuuri had been considering for his exhibition skate.

Realistically, Yuuri knew he would never place high enough to actually get to perform an exhibition skate, but it was still fun to fantasize about. Actually, knowing he wouldn’t disappoint anyone with this music made it the most enjoyable.

In his head, he could already see where he would put his spins and step sequences. The dramatic crescendo at the end would be a perfect way to brag with some intricate spins. He let himself get lost in the music, playing it over and over again to get every little detail right.

When he’d had enough, he turned off the music and looked toward Phichit again. He and Chris were actually busy with tutoring now, Yuuri was surprised to see. He watched his friend write things down on a piece of paper phonetically, struggling with the pronunciation.

“So that’s… _non capisso_ \- no, _non capisco_? With a c?”

“Right! Now, do you still remember what it means? And don’t look at the sheet, no cheating,” Yuuri could hear Chris say.

The guy sounded nice, and it seemed Phichit was enjoying the whole thing. He let out a whoop when he got the answer right, eagerly moving on to the next phrase. Chris sounded genuinely amused by Phichit, they seemed to get along well. Maybe Phichit hadn’t been so wrong when he said they might end up together. Yuuri smiled at his friend. He was always eager to try out new things and experiment, which was a quality that Yuuri envied quite a bit.

Phichit caught Yuuri’s eye, giving him a wink and a thumbs up before continuing his slaughter on the Italian language. Yuuri did not speak Italian, but even he could tell Phichit’s accent was atrocious.

Suddenly, doubt overtook him. _Oh god, I’m going to be just as bad at Russian, aren’t I?_ He rested his head in his hands. He was going to make an absolute fool of himself, he was sure of it. Viktor would probably be embarrassed by him. Or worse, he wouldn’t want anything to do with him! Yuuri wasn’t so sure if he could handle that.

Strike that- he definitely couldn’t handle it. Should he just cancel the session? He could offer Phichit to clean the apartment instead… He curled up on his side, closing his eyes. Maybe he could sleep the anxiety off.

He had almost managed to drift away when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, why are you sleeping? Practice starts in an hour.”

It was Phichit, dressed in his skating gear. Yuuri blinked in surprise and sat up blearily. If it was almost time to leave, he must’ve dozed longer than he had originally thought. He swung his legs off the couch. Some crumbs and other unidentified substances stuck to his legs, still there on the couch from previous snack breaks and movie marathons. They rarely ever cleaned, and it showed.

“Let me get my things and some food and we can leave,” Yuuri said. Phichit, who had taken Yuuri’s spot on the couch, flashed him a thumbs-up. 

~

Why was it that every single time Viktor made plans, his job interfered with them in some way or another?

He loved his job, he really did. Doing the finances for the local animal shelter was probably the most he would ever use his degree in accounting for, and the people he worked with were pretty amazing as well. Although he didn’t actually work at the shelter itself but at a shared office space near the city center, he got to visit the animals often enough. An added benefit was that it looked good on his cv. Even though he had no idea what career he wanted to pursue, some non-profit work always looked impressive.

Which was why he spent most evenings behind a desk and counting money, instead of partying like the average senior year college student would.

But today was one of the rare occasions that he regretted every decision that had led up to applying for the job.

Viktor never worked on Mondays, a result of a bad scheduling decision at the beginning of the semester that resulted in two full-length classes every Monday. They tired him the fuck out, so he didn’t trust himself to not fall asleep if he had work after.

Today though, his lovely boss thought it would be fun to send out an email, requesting everyone who worked at the shelter to get together for ‘a little team bonding’. It wasn’t that he hated his colleagues or anything, but he could think of a million better things to do on a Monday evening. Like seduce an adorable, flustered college student while teaching him Russian, for example.

He pushed the plate of food he’d been eating forward to lean his head not-so-gently on the table, and groaned. The sound woke Makkachin, who lifted his head with a soft bark. Viktor turned his head to smile at the poodle, making a cooing noise.

“You’ll never disappoint me, right?” The dog didn’t respond, but Viktor smiled once again anyway. “Love you, Makka,” he mumbled.

“Are you talking to the dog again?”

It was Yuri, who was in his bedroom with the door closed. Apparently, he had still heard zviktor talk to Makkachin.

“So what if I am?”

“It’s weird, and you’re the saddest person I know.” A blond head became visible when Yuri opened his door to let out his cat.

Viktor grinned. “I bet you and Potya have conversations all the time,” he called out, turning his head a little to make himself more audible. God, his neck was starting to hurt.

Yuri rolled his eyes. “Whatever, old man. Why are you sitting like that,” he demanded, quick to dodge incriminating questions as always. He moved into the living room and sat down on the couch, where Potya immediately plopped down in his lap.

“I was going to have my first tutoring session this Monday evening, but my boss scheduled a team bonding activity all afternoon. So I’m bemoaning my entire existence right now because the guy I’m tutoring is really cute and now I’ll never get to meet him,” Viktor said, still not sitting up. This position was perfect for feeling sorry for yourself, he realized.

“It bears repeating. That’s weird, and you’re the saddest person I know. I mean, geez, just reschedule or something.”

Viktor’s head shot up at lightning speed.

“Yura, you’re amazing! I hadn’t even thought of that!”

“Yeah, because you were too busy feeling sorry for yourself-,” the end of Yuri’s sentence was cut off when Viktor crushed him in a hug.

“This is why you’re my favorite cousin!” “Viktor, I’m your only cousin! Get off me, old man!”

~

Practice was filled with excited chatter from his rinkmates and a whole lot of failed quads. There was something about the quad salchow that Yuuri just couldn’t get right, and it didn’t help he had already been having a bad day. Celestino gave him a worried look when Yuuri scrambled not to fall for the nth time that day, which only put him in a worse mood. Ultimately, he decided to forgo the stupid jumps altogether in favor of working on his step sequences.

The reassurance that yes, he could actually still skate somewhat properly, did wonders for his mood. At the end of the practice session, he felt quite a bit less stressed and when Phichit suggested to eat out instead of at their apartment, he actually felt like going.

They went into a little Greek restaurant in their neighborhood that they visited every once in a while. Greek food was pretty fatty so they didn’t eat there too often, but it was nice to indulge in every once in a while.

Over a warm plate of moussaka they joked around happily, only stopping to shove more fries and bread into their mouths. Phichit was in the middle of gushing about Chris’s hot and sexy beard and the sweet baritone of his voice (Phichit’s words, not Yuuri’s), when Yuuri’s phone pinged.

Normally, he would ignore his notifications when he was out with a friend. He had been doing that all night with texts and snapchats from people from school, but this particular one caught his eye. It was a Skype notification, which was a little unusual.

He saw Phichit was trying to ask him something. Emphasis on trying; the poor guy’s mouth was completely stuffed with bread and he was struggling to get it down. After a few attempts, he managed to say, “Whozzat-,” he swallowd thickly, “who’s that?” He actually looked quite proud to get the words out.

Yuuri blinked in surprise when he saw the sender. “It’s Viktor!”

Phichit moved his hands in an enquiring gesture. “…who’s that?”

“Oh,” Yuuri blushed, “my tutor? Y’know, the one with the-,”

“With the insta-famous dog!”

When Yuuri had first set his appointment with Viktor, he’d shown his friend some of the pictures on Viktor’s profile. As it turned out, Phichit actually knew him already. He had recognized him from an Instagram account that centered around a really lovely brown poodle. Some of them featured the owner as well, a college student from University of Michigan. It had turned out to be Viktor, which just showed how small the world really was.

“Yes, that one.”

“God, I love that guy. And his dog. Especially his dog.”

Yuuri opened the message.

**Viktor Nikiforov** **∪** **･** **ω** **･** **∪**

_Hey there! I’m really sorry to ask this of you, but could we reschedule our session to tomorrow evening instead of Monday? My boss wants me to stay a little later :/_

_sent 20:31_

_read 20:31_

Phichit was shoving himself into Yuuri’s side of the booth to read along and steal some fries.

“Wow, love the dog emoji in his name there. Did you do that?” he asked between bites.

“No, I’m pretty sure he did that himself. I didn’t put it there, at least,” Yuuri said while he swatted his friend’s greedy hands away. A little longer and he’d go to bed still hungry.

“Leave some for me, you fry goblin. You still have some on your own plate, why’re you stealing mine?” He dealt some nasty elbow jabs so he could make a little space for himself to type out a reply.

“Anyway, he wants to reschedule to tomorrow evening. Is that okay with you?”

Phichit grinned. “Only if you give me all your fries.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes at him and started writing a reply. He asked himself how he should formulate it. Viktor had used emoticons, so that should be fine, right? God, he wished he had more time to mentally prepare himself, but he had already opened the message. He was pretty much required by law to reply now, right?

**Yuuri Katsuki**

_Hi Viktor! That’s no problem at all. Is seven pm still good with you?_

 

**Viktor Nikiforov** **∪** **･** **ω** **･** **∪**

_That’s wonderful! And yes, 19h is great. Thank you so much, ill see you then! x_

 

(oh god he sent a kiss. Yuuri’s face was about as red as the tomato sauce on his plate)

**Yuuri Katsuki**

_See you then!_

_sent 20:39_

_read 20:39_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because i'm a sucker for that piece, the music celestino chose for yuuri is 'comptine d'un autre été' by yann tiersen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvryolGa19A  
> my neighbour's daughters used to play this together really late at night, so i've fallen asleep to this music more times than i can count (also look at that pianist caressing those strings lmao i love it)
> 
> the music yuuri is listening to for his exhibition piece is one summer's day from spritited away because i do what i want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smn0HOvwoZ8  
> it's a little long for an exhibition skate but it's fanfiction so who cares
> 
> why are texts such a pain in the ass to format? i suddenly have so much respect for group chat au writers.  
> (also i dont know how to embed links here sorry!)


	3. Chapter 3

When Yuuri crawled out of his bed on Sunday morning, he immediately knew it was going to be a shitty day. Some people might have chalked it up to bad luck, but Yuuri was just a hundred percent sure the universe was against him that day.

First, he hadn’t plugged his phone in right the evening before, so the battery had died somewhere around midnight. Of course there was not a single charged power bank in the apartment, so he would just have to hope the single wall socket at the rink would still be available.

Right now he was standing by the kitchen counter, watching the battery charge way too slowly until he and Phichit would need to leave for practice.

Said roommate was cheerily shoving cereal and a protein shake down his throat and unsubtly trying to get Yuuri in a better mood. So far, puppies and skating talk had proven unsuccessful, so Phichit had moved on to making the hamsters do little tricks on the dinner table. This seemed to cheer Yuuri up marginally, at least until one of the hamsters pooped on his palm.

Yuuri lightly slapped the back of Phichit’s head to reprimand him for laughing, and went to wash his hands. He checked his phone again, which was currently at thirteen percent. He sighed. If he set his phone to emergency power, it might survive the day.

After doing just that, he downed the rest of his own protein shake and motioned for Phichit to follow him outside. They would start their day with a jog to the rink and then some light cardio.

They arrived at the skating rink with a minor accident with a middle aged woman on a bicycle still fresh in their memories. To be fair, it hadn’t been their fault she hadn’t seen them on the crossing. Yuuri’s arm still hurt from where the woman had slapped him in her anger, though.

While Phichit told this hilarious story to Celestino, Yuuri got started on his cardio. One of his rinkmates was already there, a small boy with a red streak in his hair. Yuuri remembered he had just moved up from juniors, but the boy’s name escaped him at the moment. Not really feeling a conversation, he gave a little wave before getting on a fitness trainer. He severely hated his empty battery when Phichit joined him a couple minutes later, chatting up a storm with the other rinkmates. Normally, he could just pop in his earbuds and distance himself a little. Now, he was forced into all kinds of conversations. Nonetheless, he gave a couple of answers and asked a few questions here and there until it was time to move over to the rink.

Celestino was waiting for him there, greeting him with a familiar ‘Ciao Ciao!’

“How are you doing, Yuuri!” When Celestino asked questions, he said them with less of an inquiring tone and more of just a bellowing exclamation at the end. At first, it had terribly intimidated Yuuri, but he was used to it now. Celestino didn’t mean any harm by it. He was just, well, enthusiastic.

“I’m doing okay, thanks,” Yuuri said. It was kind of a lie, but he just really didn’t feel like elaborating on his bad morning. That reminded him, he would need to check if there was still room for him to charge his phone.

Celestino gave him a solid clap on the back, making Yuuri almost fall over. “Good, good! Now, have you listened to that free skate music yet!” he asked.

Yuuri couldn’t help but sigh at the question. Celestino, ever the observant coach, didn’t fail to notice and raised his thick eyebrows. “What, you didn’t like it?! I thought you would appreciate something traditional, you always do!”

Yuuri fidgeted a little. He quickly weighed his options, took a fleeting look at Phichit and said, “Well, that’s kind of the thing. I feel like I’m being unoriginal by skating to music that everyone is so familiar with, you know?”

Celestino nodded in understanding. He tapped his finger to his chin for a moment, then made a decisive gesture by pointing at Yuuri. “I think it’s time for you to choose your own music then. It will be good for you! I’m sure you can pull it off, and it will be great for your confidence, I think.”

“What now?” Yuuri hadn’t thought he could pale that quickly. Pick his own free skate music? He must have misheard that.

“I’m serious! If you really don’t want to do it, that’s fine. But I do think it will be good for your to get out of your comfort zone a little. I know it’s challenging, but it will help you grow! So tell me Yuuri, what are you afraid of?!”

Although Yuuri had heard this speech a dozen times already, Celestino’s comforting words put a little confidence back in him. “I’m just scared to make the wrong decision. Then people will never take me seriously.” Yuuri felt it was hard to meet his coach’s eyes while he said this, so he focused on the peeling drywall behind his coach.

Which is why he almost missed the way Celestino’s face softened when he said, “You don’t have to do this on your own, Yuuri. I am your coach, and I’ll be happy to point you in the right direction when needed. And I know this sounds harsh, but people will never start taking you seriously if you don’t make your own decisions for skating from time to time. Just know that I have complete faith in you. You know yourself the best, so I trust you will make the right decision.”

Yuuri looked up at him. He didn’t know if he felt like laughing or crying, so he just did a little bit of both. “I know. Thank you so much, coach.”

Celestino patted him on the back again. “Now, it’s time to warm up. Get going.”

Yuuri did just that. He felt so much better, like a weight had fallen off his shoulders. Nothing like a fatherly figure saying he believes in you to make you feel better, he thought. Now to find a charging station.

~

Suddenly it was Sunday afternoon, and Viktor had nothing to wear.

He had already called 3 friends for help and had the fourth one on speakerphone as he frantically searched for his favorite blue shirt.

“Chris, I really don’t remember where I left it! Georgi said he last saw me wear it at lunch last Tuesday, but I _know_ I washed it and now it’s gone and I’m-“

On the other end of the line, Chris sighed so hard that Viktor stopped talking. “I’m sorry, I know I’m sounding hysterical. But I have to make a good impression!”

“Yes, you are.”

Viktor’s head shot up, shooting a quizzical look at his phone. “Yes I’m what?”

“Hysterical. How am I supposed to help you find a shirt? Now if you needed sex tips, I’m your man, but I can’t even see your room right now. I’m on the phone.”

Viktor rolled his eyes. “I know how to have sex, thank you Chris.” Viktor could hear the innuendo dripping from Chris’s words as he responded with, “I’m well aware.”

Viktor sighed, plopping down in the middle of his messy bedroom. The bed was covered in ties, shirts and other formal wear, while his pants and shoes took up most of the floor.

He knew, deep down inside, that his choice of clothing was probably not the most important thing to worry about for his upcoming tutoring session. He’d be much better off by doing some research on how to teach someone a new language. He was just about to sigh again when Chris interrupted him a second time.

“Alright, I might not be able to conjure up that shirt for you, but I’ll give you some tips, because I’m a good friend and also have an episode of Friends to get back to. How about those corduroy pants that we bought together? You can just combine that with a button-up and a sweater. You can’t really go wrong with that, plus you’ll look like a hot college professor.”

Viktor considered that. Although… “I regret buying those pants. Corduroy is for librarians and hipsters who shop at Urban Outfitters.” He picked up the pair of trousers from where it had been haphazardly thrown beneath his nightstand. He gave the pants a few vicious shakes to get the dust off, and sneezed when the flyaway dust got into his nose.

“Bless you.”

“Thank you. But it’s a Skype call, he won’t even be able to see my pants.” he told Chris.

“So channel that hot librarian look! Like a hot but lonely Russian librarian. Who’s desperate for love from his student admirer.”

 “Hey! I’m not lonely! I have friends!” How could Chris think that he, Viktor Nikiforov, greatest friend ever, was lonely? He had at least… 6 fairly close friends. And a dog. Makkachin counted as a very close friend.

“I know you have friends. I mean romantically, you loser. Why not use this opportunity to find some love in your life?”

Viktor was already pulling on the librarian/hipster pants. Chris was right. When was the last time he’d had a relationship? Drunk kisses at a bar did not count, and neither did the Valentine’s Day date that Mila had set up for him last year. That guy didn’t even like dogs.

As he tucked a (tragically non-blue, since that evil thing was still nowhere to be found) shirt into his pants, he made a decision.

“I’m gonna charm the hell out of this guy, Chris. I’ll make you proud.”

“Atta boy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! If you're new to this fic: welcome and thank you so much for reading!  
> If you've read the first chapters of this fic already: im sorry dude. I hated the outlining that I'd done before and moved the bit where Yuuri talks to Celestino to a later chapter. I feel like this is much better and plan on keeping it this way, but if you're still confused I'd recommend rereading the other chapters.  
> I have no idea when I'll update again because I'm in the middle of exams, but we'll see if stress is a good motivator :)  
> on a side note: i, too, am a hipster who shops at urban outfitters. i own a corduroy jacket. if you have fallen victim to the corduroy trend as well, send me a message and we'll cry about it together


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the date of the first tutoring session has arrived... Will Viktor finally manage to impress Yuuri, or will his incompetence with computers ruin everything?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit, it's been two months already! i'm so sorry for being such a shit with updating. i hope the wait was worth it though, because things are starting to speed up now. have fun reading!

It was already dark outside by the time Yuuri left the rink. After his scheduled time in the rink was up, he’d spent some time sifting through skating music. He hadn’t really started with a theme in mind, but by process of elimination he’d still ended up with a pretty good playlist. He had shown Celestino the list when he was done, and Celestino had promised to give him feedback the next time they saw each other.

Now Yuuri was making his way home, and his phone was ringing. Not really feeling a conversation Yuuri went to decline the call, but stopped dead in his tracks once he saw who it was. He stared at the display.

Why on earth would Viktor be calling him? He hadn’t missed their appointment, had he? While his nervous stomach did triple flips, Yuuri checked the time, then his calendar, then the time again. No, it was just past 6 pm and the appointment was at 7. Fumbling with his phone, he managed to pick up when Viktor rang a second time.

“Hello?”

_“Yuuri! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how Skype works, and I’m pretty sure my computer is dying! Please help me!”_

That Russian accent was going to be the death of him one day. Although Viktor seemed to be in quite a bit of trouble, his accent was the only thing Yuuri could focus on. The way Viktor talked was so new and exotic to Yuuri, and he longed to learn how Viktor did it, how he made those enchanting sounds.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Viktor talked again.

_“Yuuri, are you there?”_

Yuuri tried to keep his blush down, even though Viktor had no way of seeing him. “Yes, yes, I’m still here. Sorry, I-”

_“Great! I’m so glad you picked up. I appear to be even more digilliterate than I thought I was. I can’t even get Skype to work.”_ Viktor had picked up an almost whiny tone now, and it shouldn’t be having the effect on Yuuri that it did. God, his voice was even more alluring like this.

But he should really say something to Viktor now, or the silence would become very embarrassing very quickly.

“Uhm, well, don’t worry, it’s only six. Have you logged into your account yet?”

Viktor’s voice sounded a little less panicked when he confirmed that yes, he had logged into his account. _“But when I try to add your information, nothing shows up! So I just started calling random Yuuri’s, but no one picked up,”_ Viktor said, which made Yuuri laugh.

“Are you sure you typed in the right address, Viktor?” _“Yes, a hundred percent sure. Please, help me! I don’t know what’s going o-”_

A curse on the other end of the line.

Yuuri frowned. “What’s wrong, Viktor?” Another curse, then a defeated sigh _. “I guess I called too many fake Yuuri’s… my account just got suspended. This is a nightmare,”_ Viktor groaned.

Now Yuuri was really laughing. _“Are you making fun of me, Yuuri?!”_

“No, of course not. Uhm, I’m trying to think of an alternative…”

_“Maybe we should give up on technology altogether. How far away are you from downtown?”_

The rink was a couple of miles out from there, and so was Yuuri’s apartment. But if he rushed home and took the bus, he might just make it in time. “Not very far. I can be there by 7pm.”

_“That would be wonderful! Do you know the bakery near the bus stop, with the pink flowers on the windows? We can meet there, if you’d like,”_ Viktor responded.

Wait- hang on, stop the presses. It just now dawned on Yuuri that they were definitely not going to have a Skype call anymore. He was going to meet this gorgeous Russian man in real life. He wasn’t sure he wasn’t dreaming, honestly. They agreed to meet up at seven, so when Viktor finally hung up Yuuri sprinted the rest of the way home. If he wanted to make a good impression, he couldn’t show up still sweaty from practice.

Lucky for Yuuri, Phichit had gone home early. That meant he could get a solid second opinion on his outfit, which he desperately needed.

If Phichit saw how nervous Yuuri was, he didn’t comment on it. He took the role of being Yuuri’s stylist very seriously, which meant he only had eyes for the wardrobe anyway. While Yuuri tried to set the Olympic record for speed-showering, Phichit had put together an outfit that would make Marc Jacobs jealous. A patterned button-up and black jeans were already laid out on the bed, with some artfully tattered sneakers standing nearby. From his own collection, Phichit pulled out the perfect casual beanie and a stylish coat.

He rearranged the clothes together on the bed and took a step back. Yes. The perfect mix of dressed up, but not trying too hard. If that Viktor guy wasn’t impressed by this, then at least all the other men in the city would be at Yuuri’s feet.

So when Yuuri bustled out of the bathroom, hair neatly gelled back, Phichit smeared some chapstick on Yuuri’s lips, thumped him on the shoulder and wished him luck on his date.

“Call me beforehand if you need the apartment to yourself tonight,” he said with a saucy wink.

Yuuri, who was in the middle of putting his jeans on, just made a face at him. “You’re making this into too big of a deal. I’m not finding love in some tutoring guy. I mean, what if he’s secretly a creep? You don’t know that.”

“No, I don’t! So go and find out, Casanova.”

Yuuri gave Phichit a hug, took one last glance at his hair in the mirror, and sped out the door with 15 minutes to spare.

~

Although the bakery’s pastry display was extremely tempting to linger by, Viktor sped past it on his way to the back of the bakery. He’d just seen a couple get up from his favorite spot in the back corner, and there was no way he was letting someone else take that booth.

As he plopped down somewhat gracelessly, he kept an eye on the door. He had exchanged pictures with Yuuri so they wouldn’t miss each other, but Viktor’s heart still skipped a beat whenever the little bell above the bakery’s door rang.

He didn’t quite understand why he was so nervous. The bakery had seemed like a cute place to meet, but now the sweet smells coming his way only made him nauseous. He was bound to make a dumb first impression now. The corduroy pants were starting to itch.

_Ding ding._ Viktor’s head shot up at the sound, but it was just a customer leaving the shop, not entering. Another person entered, but did not look like the picture Viktor had gotten from Yuuri at all. Still, he watched them order at the counter just to have something to do. To be fair, he was a little early. 3 minutes to 7.

His eyes shifted from the counter to the decorations on the wall. The bakery was a very trendy place, with décor inspired by both French bakeries and American diners. Altogether it made for a sickly sweet design that matched the treats in the display.

Suddenly, he saw someone move into his line of vision, heard them cough. Viktor jerked himself out of his thoughts, taking in the person before him. He hadn’t realized how deep in thought he’d been if he had even completely missed the door ringing.

There was no mistake that the person in front of him was Yuuri Katsuki, but if not for the fact that he was standing only 2 feet away from Viktor, he would have mistaken him for another person. Instead of the tousled haircut and plain clothes from the photo, Yuuri looked like someone straight out of a magazine.

It was like something in his head short-circuited. How someone could look that perfect was completely beyond Viktor. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his pant legs, and hastily stuck out a hand towards the other man. By some miracle, he sounded much more confident than he felt as he greeted Yuuri.

“Hi, you must be Yuuri! I’m Viktor!”

Yuuri shook his hand, smiling a little sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet you.” He got into the booth to sit opposite Viktor, and carefully placed his arms on the table. “I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”

“No, not at all! I was just early, it’s no problem.”

Despite Viktor’s reassuring words, Yuuri still seemed a little uncomfortable. Viktor was desperate to change the atmosphere to a more relaxed one, so he quickly slid the menu towards the other man. “You should try their orange pies, if you’re still hungry! They’re one of my favorites,” he said. For some reason, this made Yuuri look even more stressed out.

He started fumbling with the menu, where the laminated edge had worn loose. “I don’t think I’m allowed to eat any of this,” Yuuri mumbled. “I’m sorry,” he added quickly, finally looking Viktor in the eye.

“Oh, what for? Are you lactose intolerant or something like that? Sorry, I should’ve asked! I don’t think they would have anything for you…” Viktor mentally slapped himself. Two minutes in, and he was already fucking this up. “No, no, it’s nothing like that, I guess… you could call me an athlete? It’s not on my approved diet.” With a nervous laugh, Yuuri added, “my coach would probably strangle me if he even saw me here.”

“Wow, you’re an athlete? What discipline?” It would explain the massive thighs Viktor had spotted before. He quickly dismissed this particular train of thought, crossing his legs under the table.

Finally, Yuuri seemed to relax into his seat a little. “I do competitive figure skating. Internationally,” he said, humbly looking down at the frayed edge of the menu again.” Viktor leaned slightly towards him in surprise, widening his eyes as he did. “That’s so impressive! I can’t say I know much about it, it it’s always seemed extremely difficult to me.” Yuuri raises his shoulders at that, smiling amusedly.

“I guess it does take up a lot of time. I’m actually surprised I have room in my schedule to get Russian lessons, to be honest,” he says. Viktor perks up at that, remembering what they’re supposed to be doing with a twist in his stomach. He pulls his bag towards him and retrieves the worksheets he prepared at home. “I guess we’d better start, then!” He turns the sheets around so Yuuri can read them.

“I actually made these for you! They’re probably a little too difficult right now, but I wanted to see how quickly you’ll get everything. After that I have some easier stuff for you.” When Viktor looks up from the papers on the table, he is surprised to see Yuuri actually excited. He forces his shoulders, that he now realizes have been tensed up the entire time, to relax, and sheds all his former doubts. Together, they poured over the worksheets.

~

Who would’ve thought a tutoring session could be this fun? Viktor was rerunning the entire encounter in his head, marveling at how much he’d enjoyed himself. At first, Yuuri had seemed so hesitant and nervous. Maybe even a little embarrassed. But there had been this eagerness to learn, to share his passions with Viktor. It was nothing like Viktor could have imagined, not even with the fantasies Chris had supplemented him with. Yuuri truly seemed like a nice, loveable person.

Viktor couldn’t wait for next week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact! there's this term in dutch called 'digibeet' which is used to describe someone who is so bad with computers they might as well be illiterate. i tried to find an english alternative, and the closest i could find was 'digilliterate'. so if you didn't understand what the fuck i meant; now you know!
> 
> also can we get a round of applause for amazing friend phichit. he really saved yuuri's sweaty ass there.
> 
> AND ANOTHER THING- if anyone feels like viktor's reaction when he sees yuuri for the first time is overdramatic: that's literally me everytime i see a cute girl so you can come fight me personally if you don't agree. changemymind.png
> 
> okay love you all, see you next time!! <3


	5. Chapter 5

It was another slow day at work for Viktor, with very little to do and too many chatty coworkers around his desk. The entire company seemed to be slowing down now, with the summer getting so close. It was very hot and sluggish in the office, but made it very easy for Viktor to grab his phone and text with Yuuri every now and then.

He hadn’t expected to talk to his tutoring buddy so often, but it had happened anyway. He supposed Yuuri was the instigator of the whole conversation, since he had been the one to accidentally text Viktor a photo of a hamster sitting on his head. Yuuri swore up and down it had been intended for his roommate but whether he meant for it to happen or not, he and Viktor had been exchanging pet pictures and silly anecdotes whenever they found the time.

Currently, Viktor was carefully editing a photo of Makkachin so that little stars framed his head. Sliding his finger across the color wheel, he picked the perfect shade of pink for some complementary hearts around Makka’s ears. Satisfied with the result, he zoomed out to look at the picture again.

He’d never paid that much attention to it before, but now that he looked at it Viktor marveled at the beautiful shade of brown that Makkachin’s fur was in. It reminded him of Yuuri’s eyes, and the coat he had been wearing when they first met at the café. Yuuri had looked so soft, so eager to learn. Sighing softly at his stupid romantic soul, Viktor saved the picture to his phone to send to Yuuri.

~

When Viktor arrived at his apartment that evening, he found Yuri already camped out on the couch, Makkachin at his feet. On the television was a hockey game playing, but Yuri seemed more interested in the game he was playing on his phone. He looked when Viktor entered the living room though, and put the phone down.

Skipping a greeting, he said, “What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Hello to you too, little cousin,” Viktor said with a sarcastic cheer, “It’s probably just pasta again tonight,” he said in a more normal tone. “I didn’t do any grocery shopping before I got home.”

Yuri slouched back down the couch. “You’re such an irresponsible father figure, feeding me pasta four times a week,” he grinned.

“Hey, you could’ve bought something for yourself, you’re home all day anyway! You know I’ll give you the money back if you go grocery shopping for us,” Viktor said as he laid out ingredients on the kitchen counter.

Yuri had summer break already, which meant the most he did every day was walk Makkachin in the closest park. Viktor was starting to get slightly jealous, seeing how Yuri got to waste so much time everyday and Viktor still had to go to the office every day. He would never admit that to Yuri, though.

“Ugh, you know I’m too lazy for that stuff,” Yuri said, picking his phone back up.

“Did you fold the laundry like I asked you to, by the way?”

“Asked me? You yelled it through the apartment when you left this morning. That’s not asking!”

Viktor silently regretted ever letting a teenager live with him. His apartment was turning into a shithole and it wasn’t even his own fault. “Did you or did you not? Because if not you’d better get to that now.”

Yuri grumbled, but got off the couch anyway. Makkachin stood up too, following him into the hallway. The poodle made a pitstop at the kitchen though, to quickly slobber up the cheese Viktor had ‘accidentally’ dropped.

Viktor gave the dog a hearty rub on the head. Even though he sometimes pretended to Yuri he was only bothering him every day, Viktor was glad Makka had someone to keep him company. Having long days at the office meant Viktor couldn’t really give the dog the attention he deserved.

He moved to grab the tomatoes from a shelf and put them on a chopping block. Pasta with tomato sauce wasn’t something anyone could get bored of, he reasoned. Especially not hormonal teenagers who would feed themselves fries for every meal if they got the chance.

On the television a referee whistled, signaling the end of the game. At the same time, Viktor’s phone pinged.

Curious to see who would text him during what was technically dinnertime, he took out his phone and laid it on the kitchen counter. Stirring the pasta sauce with one hand, he opened the message with the other to find a picture of three hamsters on what might have been the most neon T-Shirt Viktor had ever seen. The sequin pattern on the shirt was only interrupted by tiny little hamster poops.

The caption read, _even the hamsters hate this shirt my roommate has. he still thinks he should wear it to EVERY party we go to, though >.<_

**Viktor Nikiforov** **∪** **･** **ω** **･** **∪**

_Your roommate needs to make better life choices_

_But the hamsters, so cute!_ ( ᵒ̴̶̷̥́ _ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀ )♡♡♡

_sent 18:02_

_read 18:02_

**Yuuri** **Katsuki** **U ´** **ᴥ** **` U**

_ive told him that but he won’t listen_

_hopefully hell stop wearing that shirt now_

_sent 18:02_

_read 18:02_

**Viktor Nikiforov** **∪** **･** **ω** **･** **∪**

_Wait, don’t tell me you put them there on purpose_

_sent 18:03_

_read 18:03_

**Yuuri** **Katsuki** **U ´** **ᴥ** **` U**

_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

_sent 18:04_

_read 18:04_

Yuuri’s vague but mischievous response made Viktor laugh. It also made him stop paying attention to what he was doing, causing him to burn his hand on the saucepan. He cursed, letting the spoon clatter to the floor. Shoving his phone back into his pocket, he turned on the tap to let his hand cool down and soothe the burn.

He cursed again when he saw the sauce splattered around the kitchen. It drew Yuri back to the living room, whose eyes widened when he saw the mess.

“What happened?!” Yuri said.

“I was texting Yu- I mean- the guy I’m tutoring and burned my hand, can’t you tell?” Viktor grumbled.

“Ha, that’s hilarious! You’re always on my ass about how much I use my phone and now this happens! Karma’s a bitch, huh?”

Viktor thought about making a retort, but Yuri was already retreating into the hall. He decided to just focus on dinner, hoping some food would put him in a better mood.

~

“Do you think Chris has a boyfriend?”

Yuuri raised his head so he could look at Phichit over the head of the couch. “Who?”

“You’re so bad with people’s names,” Phichit said. “I mean Italian Guy? You know, the dude who has been flirting with me non-stop, or so I thought?”

“Ooh, that Chris!” Yuuri laid back down on the couch and picked his book back up. “I don’t know anything about him, Phichit. I don’t think my thoughts on this would be that helpful,” he said. “And I’m not bad with names, by the way. But I don’t know why you expect me to remember a person’s name when I’ve literally never seen them before in real life.”

Phichit and Chris had been texting each other non-stop, quite similar to what Viktor and Yuuri had been doing the past few days. Only it didn’t really involve pictures of their pets; more often than not their texts contained rose emojis and borderline flirty jokes. Yuuri would’ve been completely fine not knowing what they discussed, but sadly Phichit tended to run his more risky texts to Chris by Yuuri first before sending them.

He heard Phichit sigh, loudly, breaking the silence. “I just saw some posts on Instagram. He’s being all romantic with some tall swimmer dude.” He sighed again. “Not that they’re not like, couple goals or whatever, but…”

“You thought you had a chance with him.”

“…Yeah, I guess.”

Yuuri tried to sound as sympathetic as he could while being slightly annoyed that he had to put his book down again. “Peach, I know you really like him, but if he’s all flirty with you one day and then has a boyfriend on the next, maybe he’s just not the right guy for you. Or for anyone, for that matter. It doesn’t come across as very serious, you know?”

Yuuri heard Phichit walk around the couch, and managed to withdraw his legs just in time to avoid Phichit sitting on them. He was about to make an annoyed comment, but stopped himself when he saw Phichit’s disappointed face. It wasn’t often that he saw his friend look so crestfallen. Yuuri sat up so he could give Phichit a hug.

His friend snuggled into him, sighing deeply once more. “Maybe I didn’t want anything serious. Just someone to have fun with.”

“You could have fun with me.”

Phichit grinned at that. “You’re very attractive Yuuri, but I don’t really want to fuck you,” he said.

Yuuri blushed, violently. “I- hey! I didn’t know you meant it that way-“ The look on Phichit’s face was enough incitement to start pushing him off the couch. “Jerk!”

Instead of accepting his defeat and tumbling off the couch, Phichit clung to him even harder, shrieking as he tried to take Yuuri with him. “You’re just too easy to make fun of!”

Finally, Yuuri managed to pry himself loose and drop Phichit to the ground. Looking down at his grinning friend he said, “I hope you wallow in misery for a couple days longer, you dick.”

Phichit hoisted himself up and rejoined Yuuri on the couch before giving him a deceivingly sweet hug. “No you don’t. I have much better plans for the future,” he told Yuuri while pressing his face into his arm. “Does it involve watching musical movies?” Phichit had, after discovering Into the Woods, made Yuuri watch every obscure musical movie he could find. Yuuri could only hope this latest obsession wouldn’t last _too_ long this time.

Phichit made a noncommittal sound. “If you want to. It’s either that or the King and the Skater again,” he said. “Fine,” Yuuri groaned. “But I’m not getting off the couch, you go get your laptop.”

While Phichit went to get snacks and his laptop, Yuuri pulled out his phone to check his messages. There were some texts from the group chat he shared with his rinkmates, one from his mother probably asking how his day went but most importantly, one from Viktor.

He opened it to find a picture of a dog that had been so thoroughly edited that the dog itself was hardly visible, so many hearts and stars and colorful filters had been used. But it was still unmistakably Viktor’s dog Makkachin. Yuuri had seen too many pictures of the poodle to mistake it for any other dog.

He responded to Viktor with a bunch of heart and star emojis himself, then forwarded one of the hamster pics Phichit had sent him the day before. Before he could do any more, Phichit plucked the phone out of his hand and set down his snack stash.

“No phones during my movies! Unless you’re taking cute pictures of me, but I don’t see you doing that.”

Yuuri abided, moving to make room so Phichit could fit the snacks between them on the couch. Before he could do that though, Phichit had already opened the camera app on Yuuri’s phone to take a selfie of them. Although Yuuri should really be used to his roommate making impromptu pictures of him, it still took him by surprise. He looked over at the screen to see his own face gazing sheepishly back at the camera, with Phichit pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Aww, that one is so cute. I’m putting it on your Instagram.”

“What, why? I don’t even use that anymore,” Yuuri said. “Yeah, and I’m changing that right here, right now.” Phichit turned away to avoid Yuuri’s grabby hands. “There, all done. Now let’s watch this movie.”

“Can’t I at least see what you put the caption as?”

“Nope.”

“Dick,” Yuuri said, shoving his friend.

Phichit nuzzled back in response. “You love me, though.”

“No I don’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i passed two thousand words for this chapter! *pops champagne bottle*  
> and i updated again for the first time in four months! *starts pouring champagne all over this fic*
> 
> im so sorry for leaving so much time between updates again. it really only takes a couple days for me to write a chapter, but apparently i need four months of cool-down and psych-up time to finally get started x.x
> 
> if you're still here since chapter 1, i love you and i will name my firstborn after you. if you're new, heck, ill do the same. i love you guys!
> 
> (also did you see i added a chapter count, i probably won't stick to it but i pretty much have the story lined out now!!!! this calls for more champagne)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic, also the first time I’ve ever written such a long piece of fiction. I like that I don’t have to do a lot of characterization and just focus on the plot and dialogue instead, but some things are also so hard!  
> I sometimes felt like I was relying too much on one part of a character and it would make them fake and grotesque or just plain boring. Mostly, I feel like I have to give every character from the series a part to play, and I want to write them into the story, I do! I just really don’t know how, I’m scared I won’t do them justice or that I’ll misinterpret their personality.  
> So if you have any tips for me at all, please share them (without being mean of course, I can’t handle that I think). Concrit is very very welcome. Please keep in mind though that I’m not a native English speaker; I love the English language but since I’m Dutch there’s always a chance I’ll butcher things.  
> I loved writing this and I want to continue working on it, so please share your thoughts!


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